Northern Stage & Dartmouth College to Launch Undergraduate Theater Training Program

Northern Stage, an award winning LORT-D regional theater in White River Junction, and Dartmouth College are proud to announce a partnership that will expand the collaborative exchange between the two institutions. Northern Stage has recently been granted Academic Theatre status by Actor's Equity Association, which recognizes the formal relationship between Northern Stage and Dartmouth, and provides each institution with a set of unique benefits. The two now join the ranks of other similar Academic Theatre partnerships such as Hartford Stage and the Hartt School, St. Louis Rep and Webster University, and Syracuse Stage and Syracuse University. "As a Dartmouth Theater Department faculty member, I know how important it is to teach our students to implement the tools and theories they learn on campus in a professional setting," says Northern Stage Producing Artistic Director Carol Dunne. "This collaborative relationship will help our theater students make a bigger and more immediate impact on the American theater because they will have the ability to thrive in a professional setting."

As part of this partnership, the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning will sponsor a Dartmouth/Northern Stage Experiential (or "E") Term for five exceptional Dartmouth students in the fall of 2016. The E-term Company, as the students will be called, will be mentored by Northern Stage artists and staff and will serve in artistic and administrative roles. The centerpiece of this E-Term will be Northern Stage's Off-Broadway production ofOrwell in America at 59E59 Theater. Students will participate in rehearsals and performances in Hanover, NH beginning early September 2016, travel to New York City to continue their work as part of the production team during the Off-Broadway run, and then return to Northern Stage in November to perform additional duties, including acting in A Christmas Carol. The students' E-term experience will conclude with the final performance of the holiday show on December 24, 2016. Northern Stage Board Chair Janet Miller Haines said of the Dartmouth/Northern Stage collaboration, "True to our mission of 'changing lives, one story at a time,' I'm thrilled by the prospect of giving Dartmouth students a real-time, live opportunity to experience their craft."